2026 SPEAKER SESSIONS

Meet the Speakers

DogCo Summit speakers are carefully chosen business thought leaders and pet care industry veterans with insight to help growing pet care companies elevate.

2026 KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Donald Miller

Donald Miller is the CEO of StoryBrand AI and Coach Builder. He is the author of several books including the bestsellers Building a StoryBrand 2.0, Marketing Made Simple, Coach Builder, and How to Grow Your Small Business.

With conference programming centered on client experience and retention, bestselling author and StoryBrand CEO Don Miller will deliver the 2026 DogCo Summit keynote address, Making the Client the Hero. Miller will share messaging strategies that position pet care clients as the hero of the story, and ways that pet care businesses can create experiences that center customers and inspire longterm loyalty.

2026 WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR

Joey Coleman

For almost twenty years, Joey Coleman has helped organizations retain their best customers and employees. He is an award-winning speaker and the bestselling author of Never Lose A Customer Again and Never Lose An Employee Again.

Bestselling author and business coach Joey Coleman will return to lead the 2026 DogCo Summit conference workshop. In 2025, workshop attendees learned all about employee retention, and this year, we’re focusing in on client retention for pet care businesses.

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Steve Beck

Steve Beck has been a leader and student of teams for 40 years. For the past 15, he’s doubled down on the dynamics of conflict and hard conversations.

His current love is helping small business leaders learn the art and psychology of positive friction, an approach to those tough moments when clarity, trust, and good decisions are crucial for good relationships and results.

Rachel Bowers

Rachel Bowers is a pet care professional, first responder, and former owner of Brooklyn Bark, a seven-figure pet care business in New York City.

With extensive experience teaching pet CPR and first aid — including courses for veterinarians and vet techs — along with her work as a NYS wildlife rehabilitator, Rachel brings a practical, real-world approach to safety, risk reduction, and preparedness in the pet care industry.

Lauren Dunkle

Lauren Dunkle is the owner-operator of The Pet Lady, Ltd. What started as a family business quickly became her mission to build a pet care company that’s scalable, sustainable, and not held together by vibes alone.

Lauren joined the DogCo Launch team as a Success Leader in 2026, and recently, she fell back in love with data — client data, marketing data, behavior data, all of it. If it can be used to track, optimize, and grow a business, she's into it. Lauren owns her type A energy and has a genuine obsession with writing SOPs.

Anne-Marie Kaden

Anne-Marie Kaden has been involved in animal and pet care for her entire professional career. She has built and run successful pet sitting businesses and now operates Tiny Paws Bookkeeping.

Anne-Marie built and ran a successful pet sitting business in North Carolina from scratch to six-figures in just five years, sold her first business in 2022, and currently operates Tiny Paws Pet Sitting alongside her bookkeeping operation. She understands the unique aspects of a pet care-based business and has experience working with small business service providers including pet sitters, dog walkers, groomers, trainers, gourmet dog bakeries, and Etsy retailers. Anne-Marie is a QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor, Bookkeeper Launch Certified, and a member of the Digital Bookkeeper Association.

Michelle Kline

Michelle Kline is the founder of DogCo Launch and host of the DogCo Business Summit, spaces for pet care professionals to grow and scale their businesses.

Michelle founded DogCo Launch to meet a need she saw the pet care industry: real business education that also centered the business owner’s well-being in their growth pursuits. The DogCo Business Summit became the next natural extension of DogCo Launch as a place where companies can come together in-person for three days of learning and growing, all in community with other like-minded business owners.

Dave Peterson

Dave Peterson is the former Email Marketing Director for Utah-based ad agency, Creatably, and has helped dozens of brands automate and scale their revenue through email.

He is now based in Maryland, where he runs Bethesda Dog Walkers and has gained industry-specific insights to help pet care businesses of all kinds.

Maris Miller-Sonnabend

Maris Miller-Sonnabend is the founder of House of Paws Pet Care, one of the largest and most trusted pet-care companies in St. Louis. With a growing team and a brand beloved by millennial pet parents, she’s built a modern, premium service model that consistently commands higher pricing without competing on cost.

Maris was a top 5 finalist for Pet Sitters International’s 2026 Pet Sitter of the Year award and is a Certified Professional Pet Sitter, Fear Free Certified Professional, and Certified Pet First Aid & CPR Instructor. Her work focuses on branding, operations, and client experience design that turn pet-care companies into premium, in-demand brands.

Her “work smarter, not harder” approach has been featured on multiple industry podcasts, including Pet Sitter Confessional, Pet Marketing Unleashed, DogCo Secrets, and Pawsitive Hiring Academy.

Robert Strickland

As the founder of NextLevel Pet Businesses, Robert leads a community of pet industry professionals, providing guidance on leveraging automation, AI, and technology to enhance client experiences and maximize efficiency. In addition to coaching and consulting, Robert owns and operates a successful pet sitting and dog walking business, giving him firsthand insight into the challenges that pet care professionals face.

With over 18 years in the pet care industry, Robert Strickland is an entrepreneur and automation strategist dedicated to helping pet business owners streamline operations, save time, and scale effectively.